Java question

[slafa23]

I don't really understand Java or what it is. But my computer is very slow and part of the reason is that I have it on my computer. I have Java2SE. The problem is, I have 4 or 5 updates of it. I have J2SE 5.0 Update 4, J2SE 5.0 Update 6, etc. Can I get rid of these? Or maybe all of them besides the most recent. It will greatly help speed up my hard drive.
Thanks.

[ale52]

I don't really understand Java or what it is. But my computer is very slow and part of the reason is that I have it on my computer. I have Java2SE. The problem is, I have 4 or 5 updates of it. I have J2SE 5.0 Update 4, J2SE 5.0 Update 6, etc. Can I get rid of these? Or maybe all of them besides the most recent. It will greatly help speed up my hard drive.
Thanks.

What makes you think Java is the culprit & making your system run slow?

Run antivirus and antispyware tests lately?

Alan <>< 

[CBMatt]

Alan makes a good suggestion; you may want to scan your computer for viruses.  But yes, you can delete those older updates.  Better yet, you may want to install 6.0 and get rid of 5.0 altogether.

[slafa23]

I have 2 forms of spyware protection, Mcafee and AOL Spyware. I run Mcafee Scans twice a week and AOL scans everyday (Mcafee takes much longer).

And I don't think Java is the culprit, but it is taking up a lot of space on a very small, very old hard drive. All I was asking is if I could delete the old updates.

[CBMatt]

That's the only protection you have?  No firewall?  You may want to consider replacing McAfee with AVG Free.  It doesn't take up as many resources or space.  Also look into Ad-Aware.  CCleaner is your friend too.

[soybean]

Just curious, slafa23, how big is your hard drive and how much free space do you have?

And, do get a firewall.

[patio]

A small older HDD won't get any quicker....with or without Java.

[slafa23]

I'm sorry. I left out the firewall. It's all part of Macafee.

Also, this is a very old computer. It has a 20GB hard drive. It is a 7-12 year old Gateway. 10.5 is used, 8.6 is free. However, the computer still runs slowly.

Also, is CCleaner an adware/spyware protection? Or will it help clean the hard drive?

Thanks again.

A small older HDD won't get any quicker....with or without Java.

Getting rid of unneeded programs will speed up the computer a little bit.

[soybean]

Yep, you have an old machine there.  Can't you be more precise on the age?  "7-12 year" is a huge range, as far as computers go. 

As CBMatt said, McAfee is heavy on resource demands.  I think it's a bad choice for that older system.  You might try Sygate Personal Firewall, and AVG, as CBMatt mentioned. 

CCleaner is not adware/spyware protection; it's a hard drive cleaner and registry cleaner.  It can free up some hard drive space and make your system run better. 

[CBMatt]

So, do you have SecuritySuite, then?  It's a pretty decent program (I use it), but I would still get AVG Free, though, as it takes up fewer resources.

As for CCleaner...it is, as the full name implies, a crap cleaner.  It will clean out your temp and Temporary Internet Files, as well as other junk.  Keep in mind that freeing up space will only be a small improvement.  More RAM and/or a better CPU would help you out a bit more, but I think you would be better off investing in a new computer.  You're lucky that old thing is even running anymore.

EDIT:  Looks like soybean pretty covered it already.  Heh.

[slafa23]

It's more like 10 years old. It is an old Gateway. I got it from a friend who was throwing it out becuase it was full of viruses and adware and stuff. So I wiped it and now it's running well. It's just slow. Which can be expected from such an old computer. However I am just trying to clean it up to make it run better.

I also have a 180 GB external harddrive. So  I keep all of my files on there and trying to clean off my 20GB C: Drive.

[soybean]

So I wiped it and now it's running well. It's just slow. Which can be expected from such an old computer. However I am just trying to clean it up to make it run better.

Seems to be a contradiction here.  I presume, by "wiped it", you mean you formatted the hard drive and freshly installed Windows.  So, that would be clean state; no further cleaning would be necessary.  However, if you used some Recovery CD that had other stuff on it besides Windows, you may have some software installed that could be removed.  And, yes, you may benefit from running CCleaner. 

What OS are you running?  How much memory do you have?  If you have 32MB or less and you're running Win 98/98SE, you'll get much better performance by adding memory.  64MB would be big improvement; 128MB would be even better.  But, before you buy larger memory modules, you'd better verify the largest size memory module and maximum memory that computer can handle.  I have a Packard Bell Pentium dating back to Oct 1995 that has 128MB and runs Win 98SE.  At 128MB, it's maxed out. 

[slafa23]

I wiped it 2 years ago when I got it. I was just showing how old it was. In the years I've added crap I don't need, thus I am deleting it.
I am running XP. I have 320 MB of RAM , 447MHz.